Twitter has restricted its search option to those who are logged in, meaning those without an account will not be able to search the platform. Elsewhere, CEO Elon Musk has decided to give back many of the legacy blue ticks that he had previously removed, although some celebrities have been eager to make clear that they are not paying for the subscription. Now, Twitter is offering an ‘opt out’ for those who have been provided with a free tick, but who do not wish to keep it.
YouTube adds Shorts ad placement
YouTube has announced the addition of Shorts ad placement options to help brands make the most of the feature’s growing popularity. Shorts ads can be up to 15 seconds long, and will appear in the middle of the Shorts video. The ads are currently available in beta to select advertisers in the US, with a wider rollout planned for later this year.
Instagram and Facebook to change checkout to keep people in-app
Meta has announced that it will be phasing out onboarding of new Shops without checkout. This means that Shops that take users to an e-commerce site, rather than keeping checkout within the Facebook and Instagram apps, will no longer be accessible. Meta plans to do this from 24th April 2024 but in the meantime will support brands that want to move their checkout from their e-commerce site to the Instagram or Facebook apps. Businesses without checkout-enabled shops will no longer be able to use features associated with Shops, including organic product tagging in posts.
Meta updates its avatars with new body shapes, hair and clothing
Meta has announced that it’s introducing new body shapes, improved hair and clothing textures to its avatars. The company also announced that more than one billion avatars have been created across its platforms.
Reddit launches Chat Room Channels
Reddit has launched a new feature called Chat Room Channels. The feature allows users to join chats with other members of the community and they’ve already been introduced to a few subreddits, with plans to expand the feature to additional communities in the future. Reddit says that it has learned from mistakes from previous chat products, and will be giving moderators more control this time round.
YouTube Music officially rolls out podcasts for listeners in the US
YouTube has launched podcasts on YouTube music in the US, which will be available regardless of whether the user has a YouTube Premium subscription. This will allow people to flip from watching a podcast on YouTube, to listening on YouTube music. The company said it plans to bring podcasts to YouTube Music to users outside the United States soon but didn’t provide any specific launch details.
Credit: YouTube
TikTok is testing an in-app tool that creates generative AI avatars
TikTok is experimenting with a new tool that allows users to create generative AI avatars. The company has said the tool isn’t broadly available, and is currently being tested in a few select markets. According to screenshots by social media expert, Matt Nevarra, the tool will only be available to use once a day and will ask users to select between three to 10 photos to create avatars. The tool will then generate up to 30 avatars, of which you will be able to download, share to your TikTok story or upload it as your profile avatar.
